Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds Obama Administration’s Dismantling of NSEERS

WASHINGTON—Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to the announcement that the Obama administration would dismantle the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a George W. Bush–era discriminatory profiling program that requires certain individuals from predominantly Muslim countries to register with the federal government and be fingerprinted, photographed and interrogated:

“We commend the Obama administration for finally ending Bush-era NSEERS program, thereby closing a shameful chapter in our nation’s recent history. NSEERS was an ineffective program that contributed to the erroneous belief that it is acceptable to treat Muslims and Arabs as inherently suspect.

The federal government should never monitor and track any individual solely on the basis of ethnicity, race or religious beliefs. It is unjust, inhumane, and a violation of our constitutional rights and founding principles. NSEERS may have targeted national origin, but in practice, the impact was the same.

We must reject any and all efforts to create discriminatory programs like NSEERS that destroy the contract between citizen and government – and thus can never truly keep us safe.”

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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